By refusing to accede to the separatists’ demand for their en-masse resignation, Panchayat members of Kashmir Valley have dared to do what few would have expected but by declaring that only the voters who have elected them reserve the right to seek their resignation, the sarpanchs have done what none would have expected! However, having been accused of acting as “Police Informers” by the separatists, being targeted by “unknown gunmen” and given no power, authority or protection by the government, taking this bold decision would certainly not have been easy for the sarpanchs.
It is not that the sarpanchs have either a ‘death-wish’ or that they are lackeys of the establishment (as they are being made out to be) which has made them disregard the separatists’ diktat or the threat of the ‘unknown gunmen’. However, by being portrayed as quislings who are betraying both the ‘Kashmir cause’ and their own brethren merely for the sake of “some kind of materialistic benefits,” the sarpanchs are fast becoming pariahs in their own land. Driven against the wall, they are probably left with no option but to defy the separatists just in order to fight for their individual rights as well as to redeem their honour!
While the Hurriyat (G) chairman SAS Geelani may have publically accused the sarpanchs of being “Police Informers,” he has failed to provide even a shred of evidence in support of this allegation despite demands for the same from the sarpanchs. And his stoic silence has even prompted a caustic but pragmatic remark from Ghulam Hassan Sheikh, the spokesman of All Jammu and Kashmir Panchayat Council (AJKPC) that “If 17000 Sarpanches and Panches in Kashmir are police informers as Mr Geelani believes, then we must tell him that his resistance movement would have drowned had we chosen to spy against the freedom camp.” However, there is no point in expecting Geelani sahib to make any amends as those who know him well will agree that once he makes a statement, no amount of reasoning or persuasion can influence him to retract.
However, the way the Hurriyat (M) chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farook has handled this issue comes as a big surprise as he is not only considered to be more amenable to logical suggestions, but also as one who is a vocal critic of the unhealthy trend amongst some separatist leaders to level unsubstantiated allegations. It was probably for this very reason that the Jammu and Kashmir Panch and Sarpanchs Association (JKPSA) General Secretary Khurshid Malik approached the Mirwaiz for help and support. During this meeting, the JKPSA General Secretary told the Mirwaiz that “People come to us and share their problems. We try to help them. Last time when interlocutors came, we told them that people of Kashmir ask for freedom. We always try to convey this message to them.”
Thus, the JKPSA General Secretary has unambiguously once again reiterated that the role being played by sarpanchs in Kashmir was apolitical and that the sarpanchs fully supported the call for ‘azadi’. Unfortunately, the Hurriyat (M) chairman not only refused to intervene on their behalf but also attempted to conceal his own ambivalence on the subject by being non-committal as well as using rhetoric to confuse the sarpanchs. However, the Mirwaiz should remember that the sarpanchs are no fools who can be convinced by the Mirwaiz’s double-speak.
When the delegation of sarpanchs implored the Mirwaiz for support pleading that “You need to own us, because we are also suffering,” the Hurriyat (M) chairman adroitly assured support, but with a caveat. Claiming that the sarpanchs were guilty of having diluted the Kashmir issue by joining panchayat politics, the Mirwaiz attempted to thrust a deal down their throats – resign and “then we will own you!” The sarpanchs also know very well that even with the Mirwaiz going on record to say, “We don’t doubt your intention,” the stigma of being branded as “Police Informers” still remains, as the Hurriyat (M) chairman himself has hinted at the same by asking sarpanchs to resign in order to “Make it clear that you are not collaborators!”
And herein lies the tragedy- while the Mirwaiz is extremely sensitive to allegations even when they are not directly leveled against him; he seems to be least concerned when others are accused of something without any proof. Readers would recall that the Hurriyat (G) chairman had recently made a disclosure regarding an attempt being made by emissaries of Narendra Modi to woo him and had alleged that a separatist group might be in contact with Modi. Even though the Hurriyat (G) chairman took care not name anyone, the Mirwaiz still took it as a serious personal affront.
Reacting immediately without any regards for civility, the Mirwaiz made certain ill-considered remarks such as, “Geelani sahib should go for self- introspection before leveling allegations against others… This is a people’s movement but Geelani sahib has once again come into the field to prove himself right and all others wrong and this, his holier-than-thou approach, is not new to him, it has been going on since 1990.” From his response, it is obvious that the Mirwaiz, who never loses an opportunity to wax eloquent on righteousness and human values, himself has two set of principles- one for himself and the second for others!
From his statements, it is apparent that the Mirwaiz is confused over the sarpanch resignation issue and in his exuberance to justify his support for the same he has inadvertently made some statements that make him also appear as the self- appointed “Godfather and sole conscience keeper of Kashmir’s freedom movement,” a charge which he had ironically leveled against the Hurriyat (G) chairman. Is it correct on the part of the Mirwaiz who regards the ongoing struggle in Kashmir as “a peoples’ movement,” to deny sarpanchs their democratic right to make their own choices and instead, ‘advise’ them to resign so that they can be portrayed by the separatists as “victims” who “have been misled in the name of Panchayats?”
While the Mirwaiz accuses others of being opportunists, in this case, he too is acting as one. What else can explain his weird reasoning in asking the sarpanchs to resign so as to send the message that “There is no security of life in Kashmir?” One wonders whether the Mirwaiz realises the adverse implications of such a preposterous proposition, as by doing so, isn’t the Hurriyat (M) chairman unwittingly raising suspicions regarding a nexus between separatists and the ‘unidentified gunmen’ who are killing sarpanchs? With such a suggestion, will the needle of suspicion not be pointed towards the Hurriyat the next time a sarpanch is attacked by ‘unknown gunmen’?
The village council members have already declared that their institution should not be linked with ‘Kashmir issue’ and so, the Mirwaiz’s apprehension that the sarpanchs “are being used by India to show that there is normalcy in Kashmir,” or that “India has sold Panchayat elections to show that there is democracy in Kashmir” are completely unfounded. Moreover, by saying that they had contested the election only for the sake of development and that they are bound to serve the people who had given them this responsibility, they have added democratic legitimacy to their existence which needs to be respected.
Thus, by insisting on the en-masse resignation of sarpanchs, the separatists are only tarnishing the image of Kashmir’s freedom struggle by projecting it as an autocratically led movement in which public participation is being ensured through coercive means. So, the time has come for the separatist leadership to shed its individualistic and ‘ego-propelled’ philosophy and get over the habit of scoring ‘self-goals’ by seeing problems where none exist and charging at windmills, as such an approach is doing more harm than good to the movement in Kashmir.
While the attainment of the ‘right to self determination’ should undoubtedly remain the primary focus of the Hurriyat, as leaders of the masses this conglomerate cannot absolve itself from the responsibility of ensuring the wellbeing of its own people. And since the Hurriyat refuses to be part of the election process, so, rather than consider the sarpanchs a threat, the Hurriyat should treat them as their ‘asset’ which is looking after the people without jeopardising the ‘K’ cause in anyway. However, this is only possible if the separatists are able to overcome their ridiculous fixation that New Delhi can dilute the Kashmir issue or demolish the UN resolutions calling for plebiscite in Kashmir simply through inconsequential and unconnected issues like holding of elections!